Changeable-letter sign.



C. M. KINNEY.

CHANGEABLE LETTER SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12,1913.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

WITNESSES mare/e CeZL'a/ BY ATTORNEYS tiniann sTAtrns ATEnT OFFICE. I

'CELIAM. KINNEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

cHANGEABLE-LETTER SIGN.

b all whomit may concern Be it known that I, CELIA MURRAY KIN- NEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Changeable-Letter Sign, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to display apparatus and has particular reference to changeable letter signs of the type described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,067,177, issued to me on July 8, 1913.

Among the special objects of this invention is to provide means whereby the names or words which make up a bulletin board or directory for an otlice building or the like may be readily changed or lines interpolated between two others in place and close together without disarranging theletters of the contiguous lines. In other words, each line of words or characters is complete in itself and removable from the board or shiftable along the board independently of the particular arrangen'lent of any other line.

Another object of this invention to simpli'ly the construction and at the same time improve the reliability and utility of the device.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention willhereinafter be more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this specification in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of a portion of a bulletin board having my improvements embodied thcrein'and showing one of the panels in plan View; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the panels indicating the rear thereof; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same; Fig. 4L is a perspective view indicating the form of double spring associated with one of the channeled members; and Fig. 5 is a similar View of the spring on the opposite side of the board and with which the ends of the panels opposite the double spring cooperate.

The several parts of the invention may be made of any suitable materials and the rela tive sizes and proportions of the same may be varied to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 12, 1913.

Patented Nov. 1.8, 1 913.-

Serial No. 778,706.

hereinafter :liully described and claimed.

As shown in Fig. 1 a bulletin board made in accordance with this invention includes a pair of side members, usually vertical and parallel, and indicated at 27 and 28. Each of these members is provided with a channel on its inner face and also they are provided with flanges 25) and 30 respectively, lying in the same plane at the front 01 the device and extending toward each other.

To the rear wall 31 of the member 27 is connected a spring member 32. Said member is made preferably of sheet material and its edges 33 and 8a constitute independently operative springs. Each of said springs is curved slightly toward the other, the spring 33 operating loosely within the channel of the member 27. The main tendency ott' themember 32 is for the s 'nfing33 to extend it'ron'i the channel toward the opposite member 28 and for the spring 34 to extend forwardly toward the aforesaid plane of the flange 28. The member 32 is secured to the rear wall 31. by screws 35 and hence is secured rigidly and permanently in such position.

The opposite member 28 is provided with a rear wall 36 to which. is connected also in a permanent manner a spring 37. This spring is made otflexible sheet material and is of a similar nature to the spring 31 of the first mentioned spring member, the tendency of which is to press toward the front of the device.

At 35) I'show a pre'l erred form of character panel, the same being substantially rcctangular in crosssection and of a length to reach between the members 27 and 28 and have its ends interlock within or beneath the flanges 29 and 30. \Vhcn in fixed position the panel is acted upon by all three of the springs 33, 3 t and 37. The spring 53 acts automatically to force the panel lengthwise into interlocking engagement with the flange 30. The other two springs ill: and 37 serve to maintain the panel pressed forwardly against the rear surfaces of the flanges 2!) and 30. The movement ()If the panel against the tension of the spring 33 is limited by a shoulder 38 formed within the member 27.

As shown best in Fig. 3 the panel is covered with a strip oi :labric 3f), the edges oi. which, indicated at 41-0, terminate within a groove in the rear wall oil the panel and are locked therein by a strip or tongue 41. On the front face the panel is provided with a pair of grooves 45 into which the removable letters or characters 42 are slipped in the usual way, and said fabric 39 likewise is forced into said grooves 45.

The operation of the device may be briefly described as follows: With a bulletin board arranged as indicated in cross section in Fig. 1, and it being desirable to remove a panel for the purpose of inserting another provided with no characters or characters otherwise arranged, the operator will slip the panel toward the left against the tension of the spring 33 until the opposite end thereof is free to pass the flange as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The panel then may be drawn freely outwardly from the member 27. Any or all other panels of the device will remain in position, being so held by the springs 34: and 37, or they may be shifted vertically either to close the gap left by the removal of the aforesaid panel or they may be shifted in any other direction as may be found necessary, the characters carried by them not being disturbed by such shifting. A panel may be inserted into the bulletin frame by a reverse operation, namely, the left end of the panel may be forced directly into the position, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, against the tension of both of the springs 33 and 34, and then finally the operator has but to force the right hand end of the panel rearwardly against the tension of the spring 37 until it passes the flange 30. The spring 33 at this time will automatically operate and snap the panel longitudinally beneath the flange 30 where it will be held and forced firmly forwardly against both of the flanges as above described.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a changeable letter sign, the combination of a pair of oppositely arranged channeled members having front flanges, a panel extending between said members and cooperating with said flanges, means in one of the members and secured thereto serving to force the panel longitudinally into interlocking engagement with the opposite member, and means secured to both of said members serving to force the panel forwardly into firm engagement with the rear faces of said flanges.

2. In a changeable letter sign, the combination of a pair of channeled members having flanges lying in the same plane and projecting toward each other, a spring member secured to one of said members and having independently movable edges constituting springs, and a panel extending from one member to the other and adapted to interlock in the rear of said flanges, one of said springs serving to force the panel longitudinally into interlocking engagement with the opposite flange, and the other of said springs serving to force the panel forwardly into engagement with the adjacent member flange.

3. In a changeable letter sign, the combination of oppositely arranged channeled members having flanges extending toward each other at the front thereof and also having rear walls extending toward each other, a panel cooperating with said members, and spring members secured to said rear walls and acting upon the ends of the panel to force the same forwardly into engaging contact with both of said flanges.

4. In a changeable letter sign, the combination ofa pair of channeled members, the channel of one member being deeper than that of the other, said members having flanges at their fronts, the member having the deeper channel being provided with a shoulder adjacent its flange, a panel cooperating with both of said members, and a double spring member secured in said deeper channel, said panel being movable against the tension of one of said springs in the channel and limited in such movement bysaid shoulder, and the other spring serving to force the panel forwardly against the front flange. 1

5. Ina changeable letter sign, the combination ofv oppositely arranged channeled members having front flanges extending toward each other in the same plane, a panel in the rear of said flanges, said panel being movable longitudinally for inserting or removing the same from the members, and a spring member secured rigidly to one of said members and having two independent spring portions, one portion serving to force the panel longitudinally into engagement with the opposite member, and the other portion serving to force the panel forwardly toward said plane, and the other member being provided with a spring serving to force the adjacent end of the panel forwardly toward said plane, substantially as set forth. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CELIA M. KINNEY.

WVitnesses KATHERINE V. WAMSER, CECIL A. ARTHUR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

